Poms’ humiliating 140-year low exposed

The tourists batting woes have been alarmingly exposed by a statistical analysis which shoes their problems run much deeper than surviving the new ball.

A report shows England's batting conversion rate after getting starts is the worst the old enemy has ever faced in 140 years of Test cricket.

England's habit of failing to reach triple figures after fighting so hard to get comfortable at the crease and build an innings will be particularly difficult reading for England coach Trevor Bayliss ahead of the Third Test at the WACA, where big scores, particularly in the first innings, are so crucial.

Cricket commentator Andy Zaltzman on Friday revealed England's conversion rate after reaching 50 in 2017 is the worst they have ever had - going back to the First Test in 1877 - after converting just five hundreds after reaching fifty 33 times.

That conversion rate of 15.1 per cent is the worst ever seen in English cricket in years where batsmen have scored at least 15 half centuries for the year to be statistically significant.

England's conversion rate of even reaching fifty is also alarmingly poor this Ashes series.

The tourist's problem clearly isn't surviving their first few overs.

Zaltzman posted on Thursday to reveal English batsmen this series have averaged just 46.4 runs after reaching 25 16 times across their four innings in the first two tests in Australia.

That average of 46.4 runs for scores of 25 or more is the lowest average in any Test series since 1888.

In a column for ESPN Cricinfo, Zaltzman wrote England's ability to covert starts into big scores has been the worst across the top eight-ranked Test nations in the past six years.

Since 2012, England has converted fifties into hundreds just 25.7 per cent.

It's an alarming trend that has not gone unnoticed back home.

Gone.

England Test legend Graham Gooch says England's batting woes may be the result of the rise of Twenty20 cricket and the impact it has had on the ability of batsmen to bat for long periods of time.

"To win that we needed one of our players to get a big hundred. Either Root or Cook," England legend Graham Gooch told the BBC of England's loss in Adelaide.

"The other players are finding their way in test cricket and some of them are not at that level yet - to bat that sort of time with that determination, skill and nous that is necessary to do that.

"I just don't think some of the players have got that skill set. At the moment it's not in their mentality and I don't blame them because they've been brought up in a different era."

Aussie Test great Jason Gillespie said No. 3 James Vince is England's biggest concern, despite his knock of 83 in the First Test in Brisbane.

"James Vince is probably the hardest to fathom and the biggest concern," Gillespie wrote in a column for The Guardian.

"His 83 at the Gabba remains England's top score and yet the modes of dismissal in Adelaide were troubling.

"He is an enigma who can look a million bucks with those cover drives but he is also vulnerable through that slightly open bat face, especially when pushing through the off-side off the back foot.

"Shot selection is key. If Vince is going to play outside off stump it needs to be with a horizontal bat to genuine width, rather than pushing out with a vertical one. And especially so in Perth: the bounce there will mean the slips cordon is always alive if he doesn't make better choices."